Who's The New Girl?

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Haruki pushed open the door with her shoulder, both hands full. A bundled outfit... ribbon, blouse, half-wrinkled skirt... balancing precariously in her grip.

The changing room was a backstage space where drama club kids tried on different outfits before performances. It consisted of mirrored walls that wrapped the entire room. The place always smelled like wood polish and cleaning supplies. 

She stepped inside.

The door creaked shut behind her with a click. The air felt cooler here.

She knelt to set the outfit down on the bench. A ribbon slipped off and fluttered to the floor just beyond her reach. With a sigh, she placed the outfits beside her and reached to grab it. As she stood, one of the blouse sleeves snagged her ankle, tugging her sideways—

Thunk!

Shoulder-first into one of the tall mirrors.

Haruki fell back, landing squarely on her backside.

“Ow!”

She winced.

She glanced up at the mirrored wall. Her reflection wobbled in the glass.

“You okay, Haruki?” Haruki asked under her breath, trying to shake the nerves with a joke. The reflection didn’t reply. Obviously.

She dusted herself off, grumbled under her breath, grabbed the crumpled outfit, and placed the set into a labeled box.

⊹ ▬ ▬ ⊹ ⊹ ▬ ▬ ▬ ⊹

Back in the hallways, students procrastinated in groups, conversing amongst each other. A couple were carrying prop boxes and half-finished decorations. Ladders leaned against lockers. Someone had taped a sign to the wall that said ‘FOOD STALLS →’ with the arrow scribbled over three times in three different colors.

It was festival season.

Haruki navigated as best as she could giving the narrowness of the corridor, dipping between conversations and muttering polite excuse-mes.

But then she noticed the stares.

“Hey, who’s the new girl?”
“No clue. Maybe a transfer?”

Two girls near the window had paused their chatter. One of them looked directly at her, then quickly turned away when their eyes met.

Haruki slowed her steps. Were they talking about her?

That couldn’t be right. She wasn’t new. She’d attended this school since first year. People knew her. Her face, her name.

And Hoshino wasn’t a particularly large school either.

Haruki looked down at her uniform for soy sauce stains, but there were none. Her hair wasn’t doing anything weird. Her socks matched. Nothing out of place.

She brushed it off, thinking they’d confused her for somebody else.

But after passing a couple more quiet stares, she started walking a little faster.

Strange.

At the entrance to the music room, she paused to adjust the strap on her bag. The sounds of Sakura’s laughter and Aika’s sarcasm were present as always.

She opened the door and walked in.

“Hey guys, I’m back,” Haruki said as she shut the door behind her.

“Sorry it took so long, the hallways are packed with people today. Festival season has driven everyone crazy, aha.”

No answer.

Three girls turned to look at her.

But none of them smiled. Their eyes were wide. Confused.

She looked behind her, half-expecting someone to be standing there.

Nothing.

“Uh, hey guys? What’s with the look?”

But they only stared.

“Uh… hey? What’s with the look?” she asked, laughing nervously. “Did I miss something?”

Aika was the first to speak.

“Um… can we help you?”

Haruki blinked.

“What?”

“Are you… lost? This room’s for club practice.”

“…Guys? What are you talking about? It’s me.”

She looked at the three of them, her eyes moving from one face to the next. It had to be some kind of joke.

“Okay. You almost got me. Very funny, Sakura.”

But Sakura didn’t say anything; rather, she looked concerned.

“Have we met before? How do you know my name?”

Aika leaned slightly toward Mayumi and whispered, “I think she’s confused—”

“If this is a prank, it’s not funny…”

Mayumi tilted her head. “Do you… go to this school?”

The smile slid from Haruki’s face and a chill ran down her spine.

“Okay, hold on!” Haruki said, louder now. “We’ve been a band since first year. I sit right there.”

She pointed to the empty corner where her guitar stand usually was. “I was just here ten minutes ago! I made Aika carry my amp down the stairs!”

“…I did?”

Haruki turned to another. “Sakura. Please tell me you remember.”

Sakura blinked with genuine unease. “I… I’m sorry. I don’t…”

Haruki’s breath hitched. Her legs moved before her brain could stop them. She grabbed Sakura by the shoulders.

“Cut it out, this isn’t funny!”

Sakura froze in shock. Her eyes were wide. She looked over at the others, unsure what to do.

“You’re hurting me…”

Haruki’s hands were still gripping her, too tightly now. She let go and stumbled back; her arms went limp at her sides.

Mayumi stood halfway out of her chair. “Are you feeling alright? Do you need the nurse?”

Haruki’s vision swarmed. Her mouth opened, but nothing coherent came out. Her breath grew shallow.

“No, no, no, no—” she whimpered, backing toward the door.

And then she ran.

She bolted from the room, shoes squeaking sharply against the floor.

The hallway spun around her. Some students stared.

She continued running, bumping into students in her haste.

“Hey! Watch it!”

But she ignored them. 

She didn’t stop running until she reached the changing room.

Haruki shoved the door open and staggered inside, collapsing to her knees.

“What is happening…”

Something was very wrong. Had she made her friends upset? Why would they do this to her? Why were all of them pretending like they didn’t know her? Aika, Sakura, Mayumi…

Then—

Kenji.

Her head snapped up.

Kenji.

Of course.

She stood, wiping her eyes with the back of her sleeve, and stumbled out the door and back into the hallway.

Maybe he’d remember her.

Please, please let him remember.

She made her way to the computer clubroom, completely out of breath as she stumbled inside.

And there he was... 

Leaning back in a desk chair, headphones half-dangling, holding a bag of chips in one hand while in the process of licking the other clean.

“Hey, how about a knock first, crazy?”

Haruki froze in the doorway, still gasping.

“You… you remember me?”

Kenji gave her a weird look, his brow furrowing.

“Uh… yeah? Unless you’re a shapeshifter impersonating Haruki to steal our snack stash. In which case, impressive disguise.”

She covered her mouth with her hand as tears welled up in her eyes.

“I thought I was going insane.”

Haruki stumbled forward, catching her breath.

“I—I went to practice as I do every day, but they didn’t remember me. Aika, Sakura, Mayumi… they all looked at me like I was some stranger who’d wandered in off the street.”

“Yikes.”

“I tried to explain but… it was like they didn’t know me. Then I ran here. And you still remember. Thank goodness....”

Without another word, Haruki collapsed into the chair beside him. She wanted to cry. Whimpers escaped her throat as she stared at the floor with wet eyes.

Kenji scratched the back of his head. “Uhh…”

He glanced at her, then quickly looked away.

“…I do not have the emotional skills for this,” he muttered to himself.

Then he took a deep breath and rolled his swivel chair closer to Haruki.

“Alright…" he said. "Let’s figure out whatever the hell is going on.”

Haruki wiped her eyes with her sleeve. “I don’t know. One second everything was okay, and then… I don’t even know.” She sniffled.

“Okay, back up. Start from the beginning. Walk me through it.”

“I… I was in the music room and everything was fine at first, they were still acting like their normal selves. Then I stopped by the changing room to drop off supplies. You know, the one near the stairwell behind the school stage? When I got to the clubroom after that…”

Haruki swallowed hard then continued. “They didn’t know me anymore.”

“And you’re sure it’s not just a prank?”

“Of course, I’m sure!… well, I thought it was a prank at first, but then I saw how scared they were. Like, genuinely scared. Even Sakura looked like she didn’t know me.”

“Hmmm… Wait. Hold up. You said this all started after the changing room?”

“Yeah… why?”

Kenji paused. Then snapped his fingers and pointed at her. “I think… I might have an idea.”

Kenji got up from his chair and headed for the door.

“C'mon.”

“What? Where?”

“Just come with me.”

She got up and followed him. 

⊹ ▬ ▬ ⊹ ⊹ ▬ ▬ ▬ ⊹

They stopped at the entrance to the changing room.

“So… what’s this idea?” Haruki finally asked.

Kenji looked vaguely like he was still piecing things together in his head.

“Okay, full disclosure, this is like… a twenty percent idea. Maybe. Maybe twenty-five. It’s… a stretch.”

“That’s not a good percentage.”

The two of them walked in. Kenji closed the door behind them.

Nothing had changed. The same faint scent of wood polish still hung in the air. Her reflection looked back at her. She was definitely still Haruki.

“So what do we do—”

Before she could finish her sentence—

“Alright… no hard feelings.”

“H—huh?!”

BONK!

Haruki stumbled forward, smacking hard against the cold glass with a loud thunk, falling onto her backside.

“HEY! What the hell?!”

“Sorry! I—I thought maybe it was like, I don’t know, a portal or something.”

“It’s a mirror, Kenji.”

Kenji rubbed his neck, looking away. “Heh. Sorry…”

He offered a hand but Haruki ignored him, brushing herself off with a little huff. “…Welp, there goes my only theory.”

Haruki didn’t respond. She turned and walked off.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going back.”

“Back where?”

“The music room.”

Kenji hesitated for a second then jogged to her. “Okay, wait up!”

Haruki walked towards the music room with anxiety in each step. Kenji followed a few paces behind, hands in his pockets.

When she reached the music room door, she paused. Her heart was beating way too fast.

What if it was still the same?

What if they still didn’t recognize her?

She swallowed the lump in her throat and slowly pushed the door open.

Inside, the same familiar noise. Mayumi singing to herself. Sakura sitting on the amp, tuning her bass. Aika talking with a mouth full of chips.

Haruki looked down as she entered. Afraid of what they might say this time. But—

“Oh, hey, there you are,” the pink-haired drummer girl asked. “What took you so long?”

Haruki froze.

“…You know me?” she said, pointing at herself.

She raised her eyebrow. “Is... that a trick question?”

“You alright? Did you trip or something? Your hair is a mess…”

Haruki didn’t answer. Her eyes welled up again, but this time it wasn’t confusion or fear.

It was relief.

She crossed the room with a few quick, determined steps and threw her arms around Sakura... and she hugged her. Tightly.

“Wha—Hey?! Haruki?! What are you—”

Haruki laughed, her face buried in her friend’s chest.

“You remembered…”

“Uh… remember what? Oh shoot, is it your birthday today? I swear I—”

“No,” Haruki whispered. “It’s not. It’s fine, I’m okay now.”

Sakura looked at Aika, then Mayumi. Her teeth were clenched in a tight smile. Her eyes screamed: ‘HELP.’

“Awwww!”  Mayumi cooed.

“Uh… did… did I miss something?” Aika asked in utter confusion.

Behind them, Kenji peeked into the room, watching this odd scene unfold.

He scratched his cheek, having not the faintest clue what just happened.

“Girls are so freaking weird.” 

He turned and walked back to his computer club. His snacks awaited him.

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